Chinese Delegation Tours Vaughn School

A delegation of 26 Chinese school principals and government education officials toured the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center on Tuesday to gain a perspective on the American educational system and gather ideas to improve Chinese schools.

Many in the group are visiting the United States for the first time. The tour was coordinated through the China Institute at CSUN, with special permission of the Chinese government.

While touring Vaughn, the educators noted most classrooms were adorned with art projects and posters--in sharp contrast with the typically stark classrooms common in Chinese schools. The visitors also said their schools often have 40 or more students in a class.

“A very colorful culture,” Qian Liming said. He teaches biology at Guangzhou Normal University in Canton province, where the delegates live.

Vaughn Next Century Learning Center is a charter elementary, which gives administrators more autonomy in planning the school’s curriculum.

Yvonne Chan, principal of the Pacoima school, was born in Guangzhou and lived there before moving to the United States in 1962.

“If we have a problem, we solve it,” Chan told the delegates. “Don’t blame the government.”

Chan served as a translator for the Communist Party leader of the delegation, Wang Xiaoqiang. Wang described the school as “nurturing” and said his colleagues admired the parent involvement. Wang said the Chinese educators hope to incorporate Vaughn’s focus on accountability to students upon their return home.

The Chinese educators, who arrived Aug. 18, will visit several elementary and secondary schools and colleges during their 17-day trip. They plan to stay in California for eight days before touring the Grand Canyon, New York City, Philadelphia and the federal Department of Education in Washington, D.C.